Tesoro accused of blocking US safety probe into refinery spill

The Chemical Safety Board alleges that Tesoro refused to allow CSB investigators to return to the site of a Feb. 12 chemical spill at its Golden Eagle refinery in California.

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By DAN MURTAUGH

Bloomberg

Tesoro Corp. blocked the US Chemical Safety Board from
investigating an incident at a Northern California refinery
and downplayed the extent of workers injuries, the
board said.

Tesoro, the US West Coasts largest refiner by capacity,
refused to allow agency investigators to return to the site
of a Feb. 12 chemical spill at the companys Golden
Eagle refinery in Martinez, the CSB said
in a letter to Greg Goff, Tesoros CEO. The company
refused to preserve the accident site, prohibited certain
interviews and indicated it wouldnt comply with
document requests.

Tesoro representatives didnt immediately respond to
requests for comment about the letter after normal business
hours. The company said previously that it cooperated with
CSB investigators.

We have provided the agency documents, allowed the
agency to inspect the incident location, and facilitated
interviews with knowledgeable refinery personnel, Megan
Arredondo, a spokeswoman at company headquarters in San
Antonio, said by e- mail Feb. 21. We also asked the
agency for a written basis for their authority to investigate
and we have not received a response.

The CSB is an independent agency that conducts root-cause
investigations of chemical accidents at fixed industrial facilities. It doesnt have
authority to levy fines or penalties.

Two workers suffered first- and second-degree burns when
their bodies were sprayed with sulfuric acid while putting a
sampling station back in service at an alkylation unit at the
170,000-bpd refinery, CSB members said in the letter.

Unit Shut

The refinery shut the unit, which
makes high-octane blendstock for gasoline, after the
incident. The unit remains shut until the California Division
of Occupational Safety and Health, known as Cal/OSHA,
approves a safety review and allows the restart, Erika
Monterroza, an agency spokeswoman, said by e- mail Feb. 20.

Tesoro said the incident is clearly within Cal/OSHAs
jurisdiction. It questioned the CSBs decision to
investigate.

We were surprised when the CSB notified the company
that the agency intended to deploy a team to investigate, as
the CSB is not charged with investigating a personal safety
incident that did not result in serious injuries or
substantial property damage, Arredondo said Feb. 21.

Arredondo later said a personal safety incident involves
working surfaces, ladders, the use of personal
protective equipment, and other things that may result in an
individual injury.

Inaccurate Claim

CSB members said Tesoro presented the inaccurate
claim that the injuries were less than serious.

Acid splashing on workers unprotected faces or
other parts of the body, resulting in first- and
second-degree burns requiring air evacuations to a hospital
burn unit, treatment, and subsequent significant lost time at
work, absolutely constitute serious injuries, board
members said.

The letter was signed by CSB Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso and
board members Mark Griffon and Beth Rosenberg.

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Too many Federal and State agencies. Just turn it over to the lawyers, they are experts at EVERYTHING.

Keith Lobo02.28.2014

Its best to let the authority having jurisdication in this case to do the investigation. Having two entities doing the the same investigation at the same time creates a burden on the Tesoro staff that in some ways creates distractions. I think the CSB should be afforeded date at a later (timely) time to also complete their investigation as they too serve an important function for the rest of the Chemical Community

Robert in Houston02.28.2014

Beyond the rational argument, there is also the ironic context: This is the plant (not company) who blew out their Hydrocracker in 1997 and caused the CSB to get funded (authorized since the 1980s).

Robert in Houston02.28.2014

Tough call -- maybe this does belong to Cal-OSHA. Was there potential for BLEVE?